I'm a big fan of Whistler/Blackcomb. There is tons of terrain, nice park setups, and some great bowls up top on both mountains. I've also found the prices to be cheaper than a lot of bigger resorts in the US.

Of course there is always the chance at Whistler that you'll run into some rain and/or dense fog, which sucks, but the village is actually a really fun place to hang out, so even if you get some iffy weather, you'll have a good time. But actually even on rainy days you can usually get above the rain and find some nice snow.

Mammoth is also pretty sweet, but it's more expensive, and you have to count on a solid 5 hour drive from LA unless you catch a flight to the mountain, which cuts into your budget a bit and wastes a solid day.

hmm.. do you know an approximate value to stay in Whistler/blackcomb for a week? Also is there other things to do besides snowbaording there for those rainy days u mentinoed, eg site seeing? i actually don't know much about Whistler.

Wilz I''ve been to Whistler and Japan (Niseko) and although Japan would be cheaper (not by much) I can't speak highly enough of Whistler. The mountains are big, the runs are long and challenging, the parks are excellent, the village is fantastic.

For 10 days it at that time of the year, peak season, it is going to cost. Have a look at www.alluradirect.com for accommodation and cheap lift passes.

Whistler has plenty to do if you are not riding. There are the ecotour ziptreks, snowmobile tours, bars etc. The whistler website is your friend here.

Haven't been to the USA to ride so can't really speak about that.

If you have any specific questions pm me. I've spent more days riding at Whistler than I have in Australia.

Revelstoke, Big White, Lake Louise, Fernie, Red Mountain, Kicking Horse. They are all awesome mostly with better snow quality than Whistler. What type of riding do you want to do? It doesn't really matter which resort you go to, they will all smoke anything in Australia or N.Z.

Revelstoke, Big White, Lake Louise, Fernie, Red Mountain, Kicking Horse. They are all awesome mostly with better snow quality than Whistler. What type of riding do you want to do? It doesn't really matter which resort you go to, they will all smoke anything in Australia or N.Z.

I have some pics from my trip to Revelstoke. All the mountains Aus_Boarder mentions has pretty awesome terrain, esp revelstoke, big white, and kicking horse will have tons of different terrain. all except for lake louise have minimal crowds, at revelstoke and kicking horse its rare to see a queue at all. have you looked into banff? in the winter, it's actually a australian colony. cheaper than whistler and there are tons of places to go around there that are great like lake louise, sunshine, and kicking horse.if you have the time you can get a unlimited greyhound bus card and go from whistler to banff and hit up a ton of mountains. also, there are lots of hostels everywhere. i've stayed at a bunch of samesun hostels and they're super fun places. also whistler has a new hostel which is really well done. btw revelstoke averages around 1.5x more snow than whistler and it's the finest champagne pow and has the most vert in north america.

@aus_boarder lots of the club fields in NZ def stack up in terms of awesome factor esp craigieburn!

Canada is going to have bigger and badder mountains than anywhere in the US, except Alaska. Fact.

The vertical alone at a spot like Whistler is huge. Snowfall is also plentiful and terrain is varied as is it gets. Alaskan style spines, cliffs, pillows, trees, all can be had at several resorts in Canada.

Those who are advising US spots over Canada are doing so because they've been to those spots and had a good time. Which is great, but they are not really looking at the choices.

Aus_Boarder's recommendations at other resorts to look at besides Whistler are spot on.

Canada is going to have bigger and badder mountains than anywhere in the US, except Alaska. Fact. The vertical alone at a spot like Whistler is huge. Snowfall is also plentiful and terrain is varied as is it gets. Alaskan style spines, cliffs, pillows, trees, all can be had at several resorts in Canada. Those who are advising US spots over Canada are doing so because they've been to those spots and had a good time. Which is great, but they are not really looking at the choices. Aus_Boarder's recommendations at other resorts to look at besides Whistler are spot on.

show me one resort in western canada with AK style spines. and bigger and badder? have you heard of jackson hole or mt baker? and nice work captain obvious for telling us about whistler's vert drop.

Yeah, I have heard of Jackson Hole and Baker. I just got done riding the Baker Backcountry. Ever hear of Little Alaska or the White Salmon Glacier? Don't google it 'cause you don't know.

Whistler, Kicking Horse, Revelstoke, etc, are just bigger resorts with more high consequence terrain in general. Jackson is about the only thing in the US that compares with the big lines you can get in Western Canada. Baker is rad, but the runs are short.

They do have spines, not saying they have 4k vertical foot spines but they do have plenty of spines to be found. Baker is probably the only other spot I can think of that would have spines in the lower 48 off the top of my head. Probably a few other spots in Washington like maybe Crystal.

Still for the amount of vert, size of their resorts, America is kid's play compared to what you get North of the border.

Just came back from Niseko where there was a ton of snow. We went for a couple days (weekdays) and the powder was great (at ~5000ft). Lift tickets are pretty cheap and transportation from Sapporo (by train or bus) is simple. Good ramen / sushi in Sapporo.

The Denver area has massive mountains (~13,000ft) and accommodations aren't too bad if you're willing to drive an hour or so every morning.

Never been to Whistler but hear nothing but good things (other than possible rain if you don't go at the right time)

I was looking at airfares to Vancouver/Calgary, Sapporo, and London/Geneva/Zurich for the next xmas/new years period (flying from Perth).

Because it's peak period, flights to Europe are $1,000 more expensive than Japan, and Canada is $2,000 more expensive. I didn't even bother looking at American airfares after that result. I'm sure airfares will be cheaper in the shoulder season (Feb/Mar).

Don't forget you lose a few days both ways in travel time/stop overs/jet lag.

Should have added, if you decide cost is the top factor, you will not find any place cheaper than Reno. I got free rooms most Sun-Thurs at the Grand Sierra and not from gambling. Just promos open to everyone. Even weekends are usually under $100 for 4-star hotels. Only 30 min to Mt. Rose.

Actually Zakk is right. The ambient radiation inside the cabin will probably be more than at Niseko. There is always radiation in the atmosphere. Put yourself inside of a cabin with electrical wires running all around and such, there is going to be more radiation.

I wouldn't cross Japan off the list at all. The North Island gets tons of snow. Add that since tourism is down because of the disaster and you can probably find some screaming deals. I know of a few people who went on their snow trips right after the disaster and made out like bandits. They also helped Japan by be willing to spend their dollars there instead of canceling their trip.

look for skifreedeals to come out and you can ski whistler for 50% off on certain days. I'd love to board Japan one day, but whistler was so good, I'm making it an annual trip. There's something for everyone at whistler.

oh right ur talking about background raditation in cabin.. i tot u were talking about radiation getting into the plane.

makes sense...

but wat about when u land in tokyo, there's plenty of radiation happening there.. and then on the way to niseko...

Lol... seriously... lol

If you wanna cross off some of the best pow on earth (Hokkaido) for a stupid reason like that, then good for you. Sorry to be harsh but people really should do a little research before saying stuff like that. The western media makes it out like its chernobyl over in Japan. Guess what? Japan IS a small country but it isn't the Vatican City. You're not going to be affected by radiation unless you talk a walk through the Fukushima area. (And considering that place is stupid far and has nothing, why would you?)

Anyway, I'm from Vancouver(working in Japan now) so obviously I'm a little biased towards Whistler/Blackcomb. Even if you stay 2 weeks straight, you are not going to be bored. I guarantee it. But yes, it's pretty damn expensive. Go find a Canadian (or Washington state resident) who looks like you and make them get an Edge card for you.

But Vancouver is a great city so if you get tired of boarding (haha...unlikely), you can have a great time just hanging out in the city.

^^^Yeah, it's like people in Tokyo are glowing in the dark. As Zak said, you'll be exposed to more radiation on the plane than in the ground in Tokyo. The levels are well below safe. You should really research this stuff instead of making it up yourself.

Now with all that radiation you are probably going to have problems with zombies. So I do recommend checking a firearm and bring a sword. Those don't need reloading...

^ And you can always use a glow-in-the-dark Japanese person as a nightlight.

Zombies are another issue altogether, especially radiation zombies. A sword is a good option, you can pick up a samurai sword shortly after you land at the airport. Blunt force trauma to the head works well on zombies, too. The good thing is since they are radiation zombies they will glow and make it easier for you to spot them.

I've only been in the US, but my buddy had nothing but good things to say about japan. he said it was just a completly different experience and so much better then some of the resorts here, but he was comparing to southern California and utah, not Tahoe or Calorado.

^ And you can always use a glow-in-the-dark Japanese person as a nightlight.

Zombies are another issue altogether, especially radiation zombies. A sword is a good option, you can pick up a samurai sword shortly after you land at the airport. Blunt force trauma to the head works well on zombies, too. The good thing is since they are radiation zombies they will glow and make it easier for you to spot them.

anyway i'm prob going to somewhere worse off.. korea... there's a higher chance of north korea bombing me.. and i'm prob going to eat on of those radio active fish anyway.. since korea eat fish as much as japan.

anyway i'm prob going to somewhere worse off.. korea... there's a higher chance of north korea bombing me.. and i'm prob going to eat on of those radio active fish anyway.. since korea eat fish as much as japan.

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